OPENING CEREMONY
43 min, 3 sec
Manzanar
Dir. Robert Nakamura | 16 mins | 1972
A lyrical, pensive documentary that captures director Robert A. Nakamura’s emotions upon visiting the Manzanar World War II internment camp. As a Nisei (second generation Japanese American), he recalls his many childhood experiences in the concentration camp.
Pilgrimage
Dir. Tad Nakamura | 23 mins | 2006
PILGRIMAGE tells the inspiring story of how an abandoned WWII concentration camp for Japanese Americans has been transformed into a symbol of retrospection and solidarity for people of all ages, races and nationalities in our post 9/11 world. With a hip music track, never-before-seen archival footage and a story-telling style that features young and old, PILGRIMAGE reveals how the Japanese American community reclaimed a national experience that had almost been deleted from public understanding. PILGRIMAGE shows how the annual Manzanar Pilgrimage now has new meaning for diverse generations who realize that when the US government herded thousands of innocent Americans into what the government itself called concentration camps, it was failure of democracy that would affect all Americans.